Cuomo delayed Citi Field mass vaccine site due to dispute with de Blasio
The account, provided by nine individuals engaged in New York's pandemic response, contradicts the image that Cuomo cultivated as a steady leader during a period of upheaval.
TroibNews 
NEW YORK — In early 2021, New Yorkers, exhausted from the pandemic, found a spark of optimism with the announcement of a mass vaccination site at Citi Field that would provide shots around the clock.
However, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo was displeased. His frustration stemmed from the fact that the site was promoted by his political opponent, Mayor Bill de Blasio. Cuomo expressed his anger during a phone conversation with Mets owner and one of the wealthiest individuals in the U.S., Steve Cohen. Subsequently, the governor withheld vaccines from the Citi Field site for several weeks. This previously unreported account comes from nine individuals with direct knowledge of the situation.
Now running for mayor, Cuomo currently leads in polls among Democratic primary candidates. The nine sources who spoke to PMG regaled their anonymity for fear of repercussions from the former governor.
“We got Citi Field ready to open, and for two weeks, the state denied our request to allocate our own vaccine to the location,” said a person involved in Covid relief efforts under de Blasio. “After several days of fighting, the governor’s staff finally told us it was Cuomo personally blocking it because he didn’t like that the mayor would be the one to open Citi Field.”
Cuomo's administration required its staff to navigate vaccine distribution in the city without angering the governor. “It was a constant tension throughout the vaccine process — managing Cuomo’s expectations that de Blasio couldn’t touch the vaccine,” noted an individual who worked on the state’s distribution.
Seventeen days after de Blasio's announcement regarding the Citi Field site, Cuomo promoted a state-operated mass vaccination facility at Yankee Stadium, the home of the Mets' rival. Vaccines were also delayed at this site due to federal shortages.
Few politicians in the U.S. benefitted as much from their early involvement in the Covid crisis as Cuomo, whose daily press briefings earned him an Emmy Award and garnered a dedicated following of New Yorkers who viewed him as a steady leader during chaotic times. As he campaigns for mayor, Cuomo is leveraging that image, claiming in his campaign launch video that it highlights his strong and effective management skills.
However, this perspective does not fully capture the broader narrative.
The impression Cuomo attempts to create overlooks how significantly he alienated other political leaders, sometimes undermining them in his quest for public recognition. PMG interviewed 16 individuals for this piece — 11 of whom worked on Covid response for both de Blasio and Cuomo — and reviewed public records and communications from the period, highlighting how the conflict between Cuomo and de Blasio hampered the pandemic response. All interviewees were granted anonymity to provide candid insights into the divisive relationship affecting government actions.
Beyond vaccine distribution, Cuomo and de Blasio clashed over issues like school closures, citywide shutdown strategies, and the identification of areas with heightened Covid rates, referred to at the time as "cluster zones." State officials often withheld daily data from city officials, according to three sources, which forced de Blasio to occasionally use outdated information in his own briefings. At one point, Cuomo’s team even threatened to arrest City Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi due to his interpretation of which first responders were eligible for early vaccinations and how to administer them, as recounts four sources familiar with the matter.
Chokshi, who became a reassuring voice for New Yorkers amid the crisis, declined to comment.
“New Yorkers know it was Governor Cuomo who led the way on COVID response and this is nothing more than silly, revisionist history from a bunch of de Blasio ex-pats obsessed with distracting from the fact that he was a terrible mayor,” stated Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi. “This took place at a time when the federal government botched the vaccine supply chain and we were moving heaven and earth to get as many shots in as many arms as possible.”
Officials in Albany and City Hall started viewing many of Cuomo's significant pandemic decisions through the lens of their ongoing political rivalry.
“He’s great at the pomp and circumstance, but when you look a little bit below, it’s all about centering himself,” commented Democratic state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, who led the health committee during the pandemic. “He will make sure he will do whatever he can to put himself at the center.”
Under Cuomo, his administration tightly regulated vaccine distribution, deciding where doses could be allocated in a manner that matched the governor’s controlling style. State officials frequently chose sites that de Blasio had no control over or couldn’t claim credit for, such as mass vaccination centers and private hospitals, according to an individual involved in the state effort.
City officials kept a comprehensive spreadsheet tracking public vaccine sites and expected doses throughout negotiations with state officials. A screenshot from that spreadsheet shared with PMG indicated numerous sites and their anticipated capacities. Fifteen high schools were indicated to have the potential to administer as many as 10,500 vaccines each week, with a collective allocation of 95,500.
For Citi Field, city officials documented a maximum weekly capacity of 15,000 doses, but the allocation was zero.
“During this same exact time period we also had to delay opening our mass vaccination site at Yankee Stadium,” Azzopardi said. “The fact this all changed the exact moment the feds started to increase the supply should be an indication that this fictional storyline is all garbage politics.”
De Blasio did not respond to repeated requests for comment, and a spokesperson for Cohen declined to comment.
Years after the Covid response, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration released a 98-page report detailing the pandemic response, determining that the Cuomo-de Blasio rivalry worsened a life-and-death situation. This report also pointed out a failure in information sharing among agencies within City Hall.
“Prior to the change in gubernatorial administration in August 2021, the relationship between the Governor and Mayor was strained. The Cuomo administration was reluctant to share data with the City and often refused to give advance warning of policy changes and new directives. This dynamic hindered the City’s ability to plan and respond to the pandemic effectively,” the report concluded.
Additionally, it referenced the city’s “reported challenges collaborating with State partners, which at times resulted in duplicative and inefficient response operations.”
Cuomo resigned from his position in 2021 amid allegations of sexual harassment against staffers and mismanagement of Covid in nursing homes, claims he firmly denies. Despite these scandals, his mayoral campaign appears unaffected: he leads in polls and has begun to garner endorsements from Black politicians whose districts were significantly impacted by Covid. He is also attempting to win support from Orthodox Jewish leaders who opposed his restrictions on large gatherings important to their customs.
Regardless, Cuomo's rivals for mayor perceive his handling of the pandemic as one of his main vulnerabilities in their bids to lead a city ravaged by the virus. Recently, at a rally for families of nursing home residents, they united to criticize his record, planning strategies to capitalize on this issue ahead of the June 24 primary.
“I remember having to fight and be one of the voices to ask the former governor to bring those much-needed life-saving vaccines into our communities,” remarked Adrienne Adams, chair of the New York City Council and a mayoral candidate. “It took way too long. We were not prioritized, and we will not forget.”
During the early weeks of the pandemic, Cuomo enjoyed favorable press coverage, which shifted to scrutiny regarding his health department’s order allowing nursing homes to admit Covid-positive patients and the subsequent underreporting of nursing home deaths linked to the virus. The former governor has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Democratic Assemblymember Ron Kim, who faced threats from Cuomo after criticizing the governor’s nursing home policies, asserted that vaccine distribution was influenced by political factors.
“It was a politics of exclusion,” Kim said.
Jason Beeferman contributed reporting.
Sophie Wagner for TROIB News
However, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo was displeased. His frustration stemmed from the fact that the site was promoted by his political opponent, Mayor Bill de Blasio. Cuomo expressed his anger during a phone conversation with Mets owner and one of the wealthiest individuals in the U.S., Steve Cohen. Subsequently, the governor withheld vaccines from the Citi Field site for several weeks. This previously unreported account comes from nine individuals with direct knowledge of the situation.
Now running for mayor, Cuomo currently leads in polls among Democratic primary candidates. The nine sources who spoke to PMG regaled their anonymity for fear of repercussions from the former governor.
“We got Citi Field ready to open, and for two weeks, the state denied our request to allocate our own vaccine to the location,” said a person involved in Covid relief efforts under de Blasio. “After several days of fighting, the governor’s staff finally told us it was Cuomo personally blocking it because he didn’t like that the mayor would be the one to open Citi Field.”
Cuomo's administration required its staff to navigate vaccine distribution in the city without angering the governor. “It was a constant tension throughout the vaccine process — managing Cuomo’s expectations that de Blasio couldn’t touch the vaccine,” noted an individual who worked on the state’s distribution.
Seventeen days after de Blasio's announcement regarding the Citi Field site, Cuomo promoted a state-operated mass vaccination facility at Yankee Stadium, the home of the Mets' rival. Vaccines were also delayed at this site due to federal shortages.
Few politicians in the U.S. benefitted as much from their early involvement in the Covid crisis as Cuomo, whose daily press briefings earned him an Emmy Award and garnered a dedicated following of New Yorkers who viewed him as a steady leader during chaotic times. As he campaigns for mayor, Cuomo is leveraging that image, claiming in his campaign launch video that it highlights his strong and effective management skills.
However, this perspective does not fully capture the broader narrative.
The impression Cuomo attempts to create overlooks how significantly he alienated other political leaders, sometimes undermining them in his quest for public recognition. PMG interviewed 16 individuals for this piece — 11 of whom worked on Covid response for both de Blasio and Cuomo — and reviewed public records and communications from the period, highlighting how the conflict between Cuomo and de Blasio hampered the pandemic response. All interviewees were granted anonymity to provide candid insights into the divisive relationship affecting government actions.
Beyond vaccine distribution, Cuomo and de Blasio clashed over issues like school closures, citywide shutdown strategies, and the identification of areas with heightened Covid rates, referred to at the time as "cluster zones." State officials often withheld daily data from city officials, according to three sources, which forced de Blasio to occasionally use outdated information in his own briefings. At one point, Cuomo’s team even threatened to arrest City Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi due to his interpretation of which first responders were eligible for early vaccinations and how to administer them, as recounts four sources familiar with the matter.
Chokshi, who became a reassuring voice for New Yorkers amid the crisis, declined to comment.
“New Yorkers know it was Governor Cuomo who led the way on COVID response and this is nothing more than silly, revisionist history from a bunch of de Blasio ex-pats obsessed with distracting from the fact that he was a terrible mayor,” stated Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi. “This took place at a time when the federal government botched the vaccine supply chain and we were moving heaven and earth to get as many shots in as many arms as possible.”
Officials in Albany and City Hall started viewing many of Cuomo's significant pandemic decisions through the lens of their ongoing political rivalry.
“He’s great at the pomp and circumstance, but when you look a little bit below, it’s all about centering himself,” commented Democratic state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, who led the health committee during the pandemic. “He will make sure he will do whatever he can to put himself at the center.”
Under Cuomo, his administration tightly regulated vaccine distribution, deciding where doses could be allocated in a manner that matched the governor’s controlling style. State officials frequently chose sites that de Blasio had no control over or couldn’t claim credit for, such as mass vaccination centers and private hospitals, according to an individual involved in the state effort.
City officials kept a comprehensive spreadsheet tracking public vaccine sites and expected doses throughout negotiations with state officials. A screenshot from that spreadsheet shared with PMG indicated numerous sites and their anticipated capacities. Fifteen high schools were indicated to have the potential to administer as many as 10,500 vaccines each week, with a collective allocation of 95,500.
For Citi Field, city officials documented a maximum weekly capacity of 15,000 doses, but the allocation was zero.
“During this same exact time period we also had to delay opening our mass vaccination site at Yankee Stadium,” Azzopardi said. “The fact this all changed the exact moment the feds started to increase the supply should be an indication that this fictional storyline is all garbage politics.”
De Blasio did not respond to repeated requests for comment, and a spokesperson for Cohen declined to comment.
Years after the Covid response, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration released a 98-page report detailing the pandemic response, determining that the Cuomo-de Blasio rivalry worsened a life-and-death situation. This report also pointed out a failure in information sharing among agencies within City Hall.
“Prior to the change in gubernatorial administration in August 2021, the relationship between the Governor and Mayor was strained. The Cuomo administration was reluctant to share data with the City and often refused to give advance warning of policy changes and new directives. This dynamic hindered the City’s ability to plan and respond to the pandemic effectively,” the report concluded.
Additionally, it referenced the city’s “reported challenges collaborating with State partners, which at times resulted in duplicative and inefficient response operations.”
Cuomo resigned from his position in 2021 amid allegations of sexual harassment against staffers and mismanagement of Covid in nursing homes, claims he firmly denies. Despite these scandals, his mayoral campaign appears unaffected: he leads in polls and has begun to garner endorsements from Black politicians whose districts were significantly impacted by Covid. He is also attempting to win support from Orthodox Jewish leaders who opposed his restrictions on large gatherings important to their customs.
Regardless, Cuomo's rivals for mayor perceive his handling of the pandemic as one of his main vulnerabilities in their bids to lead a city ravaged by the virus. Recently, at a rally for families of nursing home residents, they united to criticize his record, planning strategies to capitalize on this issue ahead of the June 24 primary.
“I remember having to fight and be one of the voices to ask the former governor to bring those much-needed life-saving vaccines into our communities,” remarked Adrienne Adams, chair of the New York City Council and a mayoral candidate. “It took way too long. We were not prioritized, and we will not forget.”
During the early weeks of the pandemic, Cuomo enjoyed favorable press coverage, which shifted to scrutiny regarding his health department’s order allowing nursing homes to admit Covid-positive patients and the subsequent underreporting of nursing home deaths linked to the virus. The former governor has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Democratic Assemblymember Ron Kim, who faced threats from Cuomo after criticizing the governor’s nursing home policies, asserted that vaccine distribution was influenced by political factors.
“It was a politics of exclusion,” Kim said.
Jason Beeferman contributed reporting.
Sophie Wagner for TROIB News
